


GRACEFUL

by chaekmate (usernamewhatamidoing)



Series: Inktober [14]
Category: TWICE (Band)
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-05
Updated: 2018-06-05
Packaged: 2019-05-18 17:04:15
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,225
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14856719
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/usernamewhatamidoing/pseuds/chaekmate
Summary: She wonders if it’s possible to fall in love with someone she hasn’t even metShe wonders if it’s possible to fall in love the way a person curves their y’s or crosses their t’s- if it’s possible to fall in love with the way a person can tell such a simple story and yet make it seem like it’s the best story they’ve ever told.(She wonders if she could fall in love with Park Jihyo.)Or: A short letter writing/period au





	GRACEFUL

1\. When the first letter arrives, she’s eighteen and startlingly unaware of how the situation is to unfold. With its regal seal and stiff form, she thinks that perhaps someone has mistakenly addressed the letter to her instead of to her parents, but the name that is written on the center of the envelope with its curving letters and jet black ink is undeniably her own. She notes the small smudge at the end of the return address before breaking the seal. 

2\. She’s always been one for romantics; dreams of the things one sees in movies or reads in romance novels. Of course, she is indulgent to these thoughts with the knowledge that such things aren't meant for people like her. And in some ways, Dahyun fears she’s grown bitter. There's no spontaneity in the planned dates that her parents set up for her- never that spark or excitement to make her blush. (It makes her laugh, the idea that her parents are still trying to pretend like they’re giving her a choice despite the letters that come without fail every week.)

3\. Park Jihyo is an enigma. She’s curt and she’s methodical and blunt to the point where some might find it off-putting. At least, that’s what Dahyun has heard about the girl. And she’s not sure what to believe anymore, because if those things were true, then surely, the person who writes her must not be the same Park Jihyo. No, this Jihyo likes to talk about the weather, about the foods she has recently taken a liking to, and about the troubles her friends seem to get themselves into every day; sometimes the girl even inserts questions of her own. Dahyun thinks they’re horribly mundane subjects, but still she replies to the letters in kind and smiles at the parts where Jihyo has carelessly scratched out a word or even a whole sentence. 

4\. In truth, she doesn’t think too much about these exchanges or about Jihyo. She doesn’t think about how she’s actually come to enjoy learning more about the woman, she doesn’t think about how she always takes her time carefully answering each and every question asked of her, and she certainly doesn’t think about how she starts to dream of what the other woman looks like. But she thinks about these things when the letters begin to come later and later. 

5\. Jeongyeon. Yoo Jeongyeon, to be exact, is someone Jihyo mentiones often in her letters, so when one arrives three weeks after the last one (with a different, flowing, and somewhat messy script) she’s quick to open it. Jihyo, as Jeongyeon explains, seems to have fallen ill, and is too weak to write. 

_“She wants to say apologize for not being able to communicate this earlier, and will write as soon as she recovers.”_

_Sincerely,_

_\- Yoo Jeongyeon_

6\. Jihyo doesn't end up recovering for another month, and so in the meantime, Dahyun receives letters penned by Jeongyeon. They're all rather short and quaint and there's a brokenness that wasn't present before. She wonders if it's simply because Jihyo isn't writing them or because Jeongyeon words things in a different manner.

7\. She has a thought- a fleeting one, that comes to her between afternoon tea with her mother and the arrival of her brother and his wife- in which she’s destined to follow a life where she’s looked upon as a thing. Of course, Dahyun loves her brother. They had grown up together, and he is her only sibling, and yet, in recent years she’s become more sympathetic to Sana, the smiley and polite woman who had married him two years prior. 

-

“Are you two not going together?” Dahyun questions the next evening, watching her brother swing a black coat over his suit. 

“I’ll be retiring early,” Sana replies gently, occupied with rearranging the bouquet of flowers that sat in the hallway, “it was a long trip.” 

“I haven’t seen Jungwoo in a long time, might not be back tonight.” Her brother tugs a hat over his head and gives them both a curt nod before striding out the door. 

“It’s nice of you to let him go see his friends.” Dahyun says offhandedly, waiting for the older woman’s reaction. 

“We all have friends Dahyun.” Sana eyes her carefully, before shooting her a tired smile. 

“I’m sorry.” 

“Don’t be, it’s not like it’s a huge secret.” 

Dahyun nods in understanding and takes her leave. 

8\. The box isn’t small, nor is it huge. Its colorful paint has begun fade and turn yellow from long exposures to the sunlight- the lid squeaks obnoxiously on its hinges, and the wood itself has begun to splinter in random spots. Still, Dahyun thinks it to be one of her most cherished possessions. 

“You should just throw that old piece of junk away.” Chaeyoung comments one morning as she dusts the bookshelf. 

“You think?” Dahyun responds, not taking the idea to heart. 

“I just mean, I don’t see why you use it when there are at least six other boxes that are in significantly better shape than that one.” 

Dahyun simply shrugs, opening the lid to place a new letter onto the growing pile inside. 

“I’m not quite sure why either.”

9\. She wonders if it’s possible to fall in love with someone she hasn’t even met. 

She wonders if it’s possible to fall in love the way a person curves their y’s or crosses their t’s- if it’s possible to fall in love with the way a person can tell such a simple story and yet make it seem like it’s the best story they’ve ever told. 

(She wonders if she could fall in love with Park Jihyo.)

10\. Dahyun has known this moment was coming, and yet even with a month to prepare, she still feels herself shake with anticipation. 

Her tea has grown cold and she can’t bring herself to take a bite of the desserts splayed out on the table in front of her before a single knock is heard, startling her from her thoughts as the doors of the study open to reveal a very serious looking woman. 

“Is there anything else I can assist you with miss?” Chaeyoung asks, sparing Dahyun a glance.

“No, thank you though.” 

The doors shut again, leaving the two of them alone. 

She clears her throat lightly, ears burning bright red as she slowly rises from her chair and bows. “Miss Park, it’s a pleasure to finally meet you.” 

A loud laugh breaks the tense silence that follows, and Dahyun is suddenly reminded of who exactly she is talking to. 

Jihyo strides forward, radiant smile still in place as she reaches for her hand. 

“It’s nice to finally see you as well, Dahyun.” 

-

(Jihyo’s hand, she finds, is impossibly soft and warm and really, Jihyo is everything Dahyun had imagined the older woman to be. 

And as she watches the other now, addressing some letter to a fellow ambassador, she can’t help the small bout of laughter that bubbles up within her. 

“Mm?” Jihyo hums distractedly, lifting the pen up to dunk it in a nearby ink well- a large black stain prominent on the underside of her hand. 

Dahyun simple shakes her head, signaling for her to continue. 

Yes, she thinks, Park Jihyo is everything she’d imagined, if not more.)


End file.
